*NEW PIC* I watched my buddy crash yesterday. He's OK, I am an emotional wreck!
**Update**
Since I am literally having flashbacks from watching this accident, I went back to the crash site yesterday on a very nice ride in nearly 80 degree weather!
First of all, this is a relatively short section of twisty road, maybe 2 miles long... And I am crossing it off my list where to ride. It was rider error not road error, but this road sucks. VERY narrow, and marbles all over it. I road it twice yesterday.... no faster than 30 mph!
The first corner Aaron "offed" and stayed upright is not pictured. There is a short straight and then that first right is 90[SUP]o[/SUP]. Easy to go too fast into.
Check out the new pics. You have to look carefully at the ground to see his tracks. It has a wider run-off area than I remembered when I described it in the first post. Good thing. Expand the first picture and note, another 5 feet and he would have crashed directly into a big tree right in his path.... the tire rut in the dirt is pointing right at it.
The pic showing the curve in the road tells the story: he had a Survival Reaction slowing the bike, stood it up early in the corner, and went straight... probably right where his eyes fixated.
What I find intellectually interesting (even though I wish I could forget the entire experience), is once he went too hot into the corner and his front tire slipped a bit, what should he have done? I know what I would have done if I was cool and collected enough to actually do it, but my solution may have ended up worse off. I think I may have kept going not touching the brakes, hoping for the best traction outcome. My old Triumph 650 Bonney was terrible when the front tire lost traction. It seemed like it slammed the front end down in immediate protest. (yes, I know from experience). My Fizzer with new Metz M7 RR's, appears to be waaaay more forgiving of a little traction loss from my limited experience with it.
But, if Aaron did what I think I would have done (me having 20-20 hindsight), he may have lost it on the pavement hurting himself and the bike more?
On a separate note: If anyone can tell me how to assure pictures are right side up when posting on this Forum, I would appreciate it.
Man I hate posting this, but here goes - lessons to be learned...
So it's Easter morning, sunny, 65 degrees on it's way to 74 degrees. We were supposed to have 5 riders, but one was hungover, and the other had a mechanical problem so we are down to 3. Me on the Fizzer, my son on his SV650, and our good friend Aaron (same 30+ age as my son), on his Honda CBR600.
We were riding roads Aaron knew best, my son had been on some, that I had never been on. Both of my riding partners have been riding for about 2 years. They have skills, however they push it way to far in high speed corners for my liking. I would say they take their bikes to near 90-100% around their favorite corners. Nothing in reserve for gravel, an unexpected car, dog, rabbit or mechanical issue. There is not 1/32 of chicken strips on either of their tires. They use it all.
They are patient with me and just wait at the next intersection for me to catch up. For instance, on a relative desolate very high speed curve oriented road (that we ran three times back-n-forth), enough so their tires were showing heat signs, they were going 80+MPH. I stayed under 60mph, which was plenty fast. My son has a track day planned. I have encouraged both of them to save those high speed runs for the track. It falls on deaf ears. I'm twice their age, happy to have both as friends and share this great interest and experiences, so I just keep those views mostly to myself after hearing their objections. Jake crashed his first bake, a Ninja 250 on an entrance hwy ramp without serious injury. Aaron had an "off" once riding with Jake, but kept it upright. I have had one major crash with broken bones, and 2 minor crashes, both before I was 20 years old.
So we are done with multiple passes on that high speed road. It's now 70 degrees and sunny. Glorious day. Aaron is first, then Jake, then me on a country road with a few cars, normal speeds with light traffic. Aaron signals left and we get on a narrow asphalt VERY twisty road. No cars. Think Tail of the Dragon, possibly tighter, narrower, with back to back esses with elevation changes. Very technical road. Going 45MPH would be tough (for me at least), and we had just come off a very high speed run.
First thing I notice besides looking ahead at the tight twists coming up, is the road is narrow, and the asphalt is that weathered type that is sort faded black-grey with a rough texture. So off we go. On the second right turn, not going very fast at all, Aaron goes off the road and dust is flying as Jake roars by him. He amazingly stayed upright, which Jake sees and later told us he thought all was good so he kept going. I should mention that on the sides of this road was a narrow area, sort of a shallow ditch, with leaves, brown dry dirt, with maybe 10-12 feet, less in some places, before thick woods. No curbs or fences. Ironically this road is called Rail Fence Road. No Fence.
So I now have moved up behind Aaron as he re-enters from the off road dirt/leaves/other woodsy debris, back onto the asphalt. I'm thinking, let's pull over and take a breather man. That was a close call to those stout trees! If that was me I absolutely would have stopped. To my surprise he accelerates and keeps going. There is the end of the right corner he went off on, then a very short straight or shallower part of the curve, then a very sharp left coming up. I am maybe 2-3 bike lengths behind him as he is accelerating away.
Then right in front of me, just like watching any Go Pro or dash cam video on Utube, I see him bobble, the bike stands up where it shouldn't, and he goes off again. But this time the corner was so tight he could not stay parallel with the road, it was a bit down hill. He was headed downhill straight for the trees. Then a cloud of dirt off the rear locked tire. He slowed considerably and at the last minute he jumped off with one leg really high trying to avoid the bars and mirrors, as he went over the front of the bike and on his side.
I can't believe this happened. It was surreal. It was a slow-motion freak out moment for me. I manage not to crash with him watching what was happening, pulled over just past him and run to his aide. He was ok. Later in the day he was sore and he had strained his hip/groin doing that awkward last leap. His 400lb bike was a bear to pull out the ditch. That's when Jake came roaring back to find us. His bike was pretty good. Dirt jammed in every crevice. Thankfully it fell on the non muffler side. The front fairing and left headlight were pretty badly scratched. Neither the bike nor Aaron hit the pavement. Aaron landed in the softest dirt and pile of leaves you could possibly imagine, less than a foot from trees that would have broken ribs, or worse.
So what happened? Here is the post mortem: That street surface and color made it near impossible to see small "marbles" or asphalt gravel that was in the corners. His front tire hit it, slid a bit, he went into survival reaction mode (understandable but wrong, of course), braked, stood the bike up from full lean, and ran straight off the corner into soft stuff where he couldn't stay upright. Then he ran out of room before the trees. I think the dirt on his tires from his first "off" contributed to the problem. These were VERY tight, level to downhill esses. I doubt we were going more than 45mph.
When I was trying to calm Aaron before Jake got there, convincing him to sit down for a moment, we both realized I was was breathing harder and my heart rate was off the charts compared to his! Because I feared I had watched my friend get seriously hurt. It was VERY scarey to watch. Watch any TOD video of a crash there, that is exactly what I witnessed close-up.
So few took it easy, rode back to my shop, washed the bike up and spent 3 hours "color correcting" the bike with 3-step polishing: 2 compounds, different pads and Sonax. The bike looks better than before he crashed it. It has a few deeper scratches around the headlight that didn't completely come out. But they are good reminders of that day.
I am so glad my friend wasn't hurt. I am still freaked out.
The pics are after my son & I compounded and polished out his entire bike. We did this for him as he mostly rested. He helped a little in the end. The first picture is the side it fell on. It kind of nose dived the front left headlight and faring into the dirt at a downward angle. At that point there wasn't much momentum left, so he was fortunate nothing actually broke... except his ego.
After that we drank two bottles of good wine, and had a wonderful Easter dinner. My blessing at the table was mostly about Aaron's guardian angel!
**Update**
Since I am literally having flashbacks from watching this accident, I went back to the crash site yesterday on a very nice ride in nearly 80 degree weather!
First of all, this is a relatively short section of twisty road, maybe 2 miles long... And I am crossing it off my list where to ride. It was rider error not road error, but this road sucks. VERY narrow, and marbles all over it. I road it twice yesterday.... no faster than 30 mph!
The first corner Aaron "offed" and stayed upright is not pictured. There is a short straight and then that first right is 90[SUP]o[/SUP]. Easy to go too fast into.
Check out the new pics. You have to look carefully at the ground to see his tracks. It has a wider run-off area than I remembered when I described it in the first post. Good thing. Expand the first picture and note, another 5 feet and he would have crashed directly into a big tree right in his path.... the tire rut in the dirt is pointing right at it.
The pic showing the curve in the road tells the story: he had a Survival Reaction slowing the bike, stood it up early in the corner, and went straight... probably right where his eyes fixated.
What I find intellectually interesting (even though I wish I could forget the entire experience), is once he went too hot into the corner and his front tire slipped a bit, what should he have done? I know what I would have done if I was cool and collected enough to actually do it, but my solution may have ended up worse off. I think I may have kept going not touching the brakes, hoping for the best traction outcome. My old Triumph 650 Bonney was terrible when the front tire lost traction. It seemed like it slammed the front end down in immediate protest. (yes, I know from experience). My Fizzer with new Metz M7 RR's, appears to be waaaay more forgiving of a little traction loss from my limited experience with it.
But, if Aaron did what I think I would have done (me having 20-20 hindsight), he may have lost it on the pavement hurting himself and the bike more?
On a separate note: If anyone can tell me how to assure pictures are right side up when posting on this Forum, I would appreciate it.
Man I hate posting this, but here goes - lessons to be learned...
So it's Easter morning, sunny, 65 degrees on it's way to 74 degrees. We were supposed to have 5 riders, but one was hungover, and the other had a mechanical problem so we are down to 3. Me on the Fizzer, my son on his SV650, and our good friend Aaron (same 30+ age as my son), on his Honda CBR600.
We were riding roads Aaron knew best, my son had been on some, that I had never been on. Both of my riding partners have been riding for about 2 years. They have skills, however they push it way to far in high speed corners for my liking. I would say they take their bikes to near 90-100% around their favorite corners. Nothing in reserve for gravel, an unexpected car, dog, rabbit or mechanical issue. There is not 1/32 of chicken strips on either of their tires. They use it all.
They are patient with me and just wait at the next intersection for me to catch up. For instance, on a relative desolate very high speed curve oriented road (that we ran three times back-n-forth), enough so their tires were showing heat signs, they were going 80+MPH. I stayed under 60mph, which was plenty fast. My son has a track day planned. I have encouraged both of them to save those high speed runs for the track. It falls on deaf ears. I'm twice their age, happy to have both as friends and share this great interest and experiences, so I just keep those views mostly to myself after hearing their objections. Jake crashed his first bake, a Ninja 250 on an entrance hwy ramp without serious injury. Aaron had an "off" once riding with Jake, but kept it upright. I have had one major crash with broken bones, and 2 minor crashes, both before I was 20 years old.
So we are done with multiple passes on that high speed road. It's now 70 degrees and sunny. Glorious day. Aaron is first, then Jake, then me on a country road with a few cars, normal speeds with light traffic. Aaron signals left and we get on a narrow asphalt VERY twisty road. No cars. Think Tail of the Dragon, possibly tighter, narrower, with back to back esses with elevation changes. Very technical road. Going 45MPH would be tough (for me at least), and we had just come off a very high speed run.
First thing I notice besides looking ahead at the tight twists coming up, is the road is narrow, and the asphalt is that weathered type that is sort faded black-grey with a rough texture. So off we go. On the second right turn, not going very fast at all, Aaron goes off the road and dust is flying as Jake roars by him. He amazingly stayed upright, which Jake sees and later told us he thought all was good so he kept going. I should mention that on the sides of this road was a narrow area, sort of a shallow ditch, with leaves, brown dry dirt, with maybe 10-12 feet, less in some places, before thick woods. No curbs or fences. Ironically this road is called Rail Fence Road. No Fence.
So I now have moved up behind Aaron as he re-enters from the off road dirt/leaves/other woodsy debris, back onto the asphalt. I'm thinking, let's pull over and take a breather man. That was a close call to those stout trees! If that was me I absolutely would have stopped. To my surprise he accelerates and keeps going. There is the end of the right corner he went off on, then a very short straight or shallower part of the curve, then a very sharp left coming up. I am maybe 2-3 bike lengths behind him as he is accelerating away.
Then right in front of me, just like watching any Go Pro or dash cam video on Utube, I see him bobble, the bike stands up where it shouldn't, and he goes off again. But this time the corner was so tight he could not stay parallel with the road, it was a bit down hill. He was headed downhill straight for the trees. Then a cloud of dirt off the rear locked tire. He slowed considerably and at the last minute he jumped off with one leg really high trying to avoid the bars and mirrors, as he went over the front of the bike and on his side.
I can't believe this happened. It was surreal. It was a slow-motion freak out moment for me. I manage not to crash with him watching what was happening, pulled over just past him and run to his aide. He was ok. Later in the day he was sore and he had strained his hip/groin doing that awkward last leap. His 400lb bike was a bear to pull out the ditch. That's when Jake came roaring back to find us. His bike was pretty good. Dirt jammed in every crevice. Thankfully it fell on the non muffler side. The front fairing and left headlight were pretty badly scratched. Neither the bike nor Aaron hit the pavement. Aaron landed in the softest dirt and pile of leaves you could possibly imagine, less than a foot from trees that would have broken ribs, or worse.
So what happened? Here is the post mortem: That street surface and color made it near impossible to see small "marbles" or asphalt gravel that was in the corners. His front tire hit it, slid a bit, he went into survival reaction mode (understandable but wrong, of course), braked, stood the bike up from full lean, and ran straight off the corner into soft stuff where he couldn't stay upright. Then he ran out of room before the trees. I think the dirt on his tires from his first "off" contributed to the problem. These were VERY tight, level to downhill esses. I doubt we were going more than 45mph.
When I was trying to calm Aaron before Jake got there, convincing him to sit down for a moment, we both realized I was was breathing harder and my heart rate was off the charts compared to his! Because I feared I had watched my friend get seriously hurt. It was VERY scarey to watch. Watch any TOD video of a crash there, that is exactly what I witnessed close-up.
So few took it easy, rode back to my shop, washed the bike up and spent 3 hours "color correcting" the bike with 3-step polishing: 2 compounds, different pads and Sonax. The bike looks better than before he crashed it. It has a few deeper scratches around the headlight that didn't completely come out. But they are good reminders of that day.
I am so glad my friend wasn't hurt. I am still freaked out.
The pics are after my son & I compounded and polished out his entire bike. We did this for him as he mostly rested. He helped a little in the end. The first picture is the side it fell on. It kind of nose dived the front left headlight and faring into the dirt at a downward angle. At that point there wasn't much momentum left, so he was fortunate nothing actually broke... except his ego.
After that we drank two bottles of good wine, and had a wonderful Easter dinner. My blessing at the table was mostly about Aaron's guardian angel!
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